The Aimee Song Guide to DIY Decor: Our July Guest Blogger Builds a Picture-Perfect Frame

Each month, ELLE.com wades through the web in search of the best guest bloggers. For our July issue (starring Shakira and on newsstands now), we tapped Aimee Song, the interior designer behind Song of Style, to bring her signature SoCal style and design tips to our blog. Today's installment is part of Song's weekly DIY series: crafting a garden-party-ready succulent frame, from scratch.

Materials:

-Frame (size depends on where you'll be hanging your garden)

-1" chicken wire or "hardware cloth" (you can get this at any hardware store)

-1"x1" wood strips (amount depends on size of your frame; see step 4)

-Plywood (same size as frame)

-Nails, screws & hammer

-Can of varnish Spray (you can get this at any hardware store)

-Succulents & cactus soil

-Spanish moss

-Staple gun

Instructions:

1. Go frame shopping: A vintage frame makes for a great look when it comes to planting succulents, but a contemporary one could also be funky and cool when paired with plants. Feel free to play with different colors and finishes—it all depends on how much focus you want put on the frame itself.

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2. Spray the frame with two coats of an outdoor urethane varnish so that the wood doesn't rot when you water the plants. Any finish will work, but for a natural look, choose clear satin.

3. When the frame is dry, lay it face down and staple the chicken wire to the back of the frame.

4. To create a box for the plants, create depth by screwing the 1"x1" wood strips along the inner edge of the frame.

5. Put a thick enough layer of Spanish moss down on the chicken wire to hold the cactus soil in, and then fill the frame with soil.

6. Hammer the plywood to the 1"x1" wood strips to hold the soil in.

7. Succulents are very sturdy plants and don't need much to survive—just stick them through the chicken wire so just the root is in the soil. Fill the frame as much as you'd like. Succulents find moisture in the air and don't need to be watered—but if you see they need a little love, mist them with a spray bottle.

8. Depending on the size of your frame it might be too heavy to hang. In that case, just lean it against a wall. Either way, it's beautiful!